Coat and trousers press



Dec. 13, 1932. F. J. BARNES COAT AND TROUSERS PRESS INVENTOR f/ mvd #15227: as

Filed Nov. 7. 1929 ATTORN 48' Patented Dec. 13, 1932 fr A vR rRARnEs. or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

PATENT} oFFics some; sun TROUSERS PRESS .Application fil ed November 7, 1929. Serial No. 405,250.

This'invention relates to garment presses,

and particularly to presses of simplified, readily portable and collapsible form, such as may be compactly stored when not in use. An object of the invention is to adapt a press of the. described character to exercise the function also of a combined garment press and coat hanger.

Another object isto provide means on a combined garment press and hanger for holding the breast portion of a coat in an expanded and unwrinkled formJ A further object is to employ a wire memher for the last mentioned purpose and to adapt such wire for quick detachable engagement with the coat-supporting portion of the press. F Y

press.

, These and various other objects tio-n attainsv by the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompany 2 mg drawing, wherein: p v r Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the assembled press, showinga pair of trousers.

carried thereby.

. Fig. 2'is a rear view of the same. v

Fig.3 is an elevationaliedge view of the press. 7

Fig. 4; is a top view of the same, 1 Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the sembled pressing plates. V Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectlon,

disastaken upon the line 6-6 of Fig.1 and show-,1

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical section Still another object is to provideianime h proved and highly simplified clipforclamp ing together coacting plates of a garment Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of'the same,

when

taken on the line 9-9=of Fig. 2,'showingin' full lines an initial inserted position of the hooked wire support for the'invention, and showing in dash lines the final or use position of said, support. In these views, the'reference characters 1,. 2, 3 and ldesignate respectively four plates which primarily comprise the present invention and which are cut, stamped, or otherwise fashioned fromany suitablematerial. The preferred material for said plates is ,a light and slightly flexible wall board of a thickness, approximatingone eighthof an inch. ,Such board is commonly manufactured from wood pulp, sawdust, or like material, and is avail- 0 able atlowcost.

-The abovefdescribed plates-are preferably not-permanently connectingin any manner, but are adapted to be quick-detachably assembled incooperative relation, as will pre's- .65 I entlyiappear.

The plate-1 is so proportionedandfash- I ioned as regards its width and the contour of its. upper edge as to adapt it foruse as acoat-hanger. Thus, said edge'has its cen tral portion semi circularly rounded. to 'a small-radius and inclines similarly down-f wardly at each side of said central portion, as

indicated at 5 and conform to the shoulders of the coat. Preferably, said plate has. se- I.

cured to its top portion by brads 7. or other I; 1 suitable means, a plate 6 having its' upper edge conforming to and flush withthat of the plate 1 andcorresponding in width to the latter. It, is preferred to "attach tothe plate'l a hook8 of wire or like material,functioning as a hanger,.and in the illustratedem bodiment of the inventionsaid. hook has an,

elongated wire shank 10 securedbetwjeen the plate 6 and a relatively small auxiliary plate 35 9 bradded or otherwise attached at itslateral:

edges to the plated, The lower end of the shank 10 is formed with a smallhook 11 for engaging the lower edge of the plate 9, and

desired, the hangers 8 10,11 may be entirely removed from the plate 1 by sliding said hanger downwardly to clear the hook 11 from the plate 9 and then rotating said hanger to position the hook 11 against the plate 6 so that the hanger may be freely Withdrawn.

It is preferred to equip the plate 1 with means for expanding the breast portion of a coat hung on said plate, and the preferred means for thispurpose is a bowed length of wire 12 having downwardly bent extremities 13 snugly insertable in sockets 14drilled in small plates 15 secured for that purpose to the plate 6, one at each end thereof. Said sockets are reinforced preferably by suitable metal inserts such as the staples 16 driven into the plates 15 in registration with the upper ends of said sockets.

In assembling the described press, the plate 1 is laid upon a table or the like with its front face uppermost, and the plate is positioned to abut the relatively reduced end of said plate 1. The garment to be pressed is then stretched upon the two plates 1 and 3, and its creased edges are slightly dampened and smoothed with the hands to eliminate all wrinkles. The plates 2 and 4 are then superposed uponthe garment in respective registration' with the plates 1 and 3, and a plurality of spring wire clips 17 are engaged with the registering edges of the plates 1 and 2, and 8 and f to clamp them tightly upon the garment.

In order to firmly interconnect the upper and lower plates of the press so that the pressing effect will not be interrupted at the joint therebetweem'it is preferred to permanently secure to the remote faces of the plates the fullwidth of said plates, and projecting a short distance below same. These plates produce an overlapping between the upper and lower members of the press and assure continuity in a vertical direction of pressure applied by the spring clips 17. Preferably, two of said clips are engaged with the plates 17, at opposite edges thereof, as clearly appears in the drawing.

Reinforcing strips 19 are preferably applied permanently to the remote faces of the lower edges of the plates 3 and 4. It will be noted that the clips 17 are, of verysimple form consisting merely of short lengths of spring wire bent to form similar portionscrossing each other at a point adjacent to their free ends. In applying said clips, their divergent ends are first positioned to straddle the edges of the press plates, the clips being turned at an approximate right angle to their initial position, as they are pushed into clamping positions.

In pressing trouser legs, all four plates of the press are employed as described, while for pressing coat sleeves theplates 3 and 4 alone suffice. In using the press a hanger, the

1 and 2 a pair of extension plates 18 having 1 trousers are clamped in position, as has been described, the top portion thereof depending from the upper edge of the plate 2, as best appears in Fig. 1. The coat is mounted upon the plate 1, and its breast portion is held expanded by the wire 12.

When the described press is not in use, its four primary plates may be superposed one on another and thus adapted to be very compactly stored, In performing a pressing operation with the described press, the same may, if desired, be laid flat on a table or the like, and weighted to apply requisite pressure to a garment, without utilizing the clips 17.

The extreme simplicity of the described press permits its manufacture with a minimum of expenseand labor.

\Vhile it is apparent that the illustrated embodiment of my invention herein disclosed is well calculated to adequately fulfill the obj sets and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and change within the spiritand scope of the subjoined claims.

IV hat I claim is:

'1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a plate having an upper edge conforming to the shoulders of a coat and having a pair of sockets adjacent to said edge, of a bowed wire member for expanding the breast portion of a coat, said element having down-turned ends removably inserted in said sockets.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, a pair of metallic elements secured to said plate and reinforcing said sockets.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a presser plate having a top edge substantially conforming to the shoulders of a coat, adapting said plate for coat hanger use, a second plate parallel and adjacent to the first mentioned plate, means securing the second plate along each lateral 1 marginthereof to the first plate, and a sup-- porting hook having a shank rotatively and slidably positioned between the two plates, its lower edge being hooked, whereby said shank may he slid downwardly between the two plates with its lower hook parallel to said plates, and may then be rotated through a quarter turnand upwardly shifted to engage its lower hook with the lower edge of the second plate.

4. A garment press comprising two pairs of plates each completely detachable from the others, the plates of each alel and adjacent toeach other, the plates of each pair abutting end-wise those of the other, means for clamping the plates of each pair Vintheir parallel adjacent relation, and an extension rigidly secured to one plate of each pair, substantially coextensive in width with such plate and freely overlapping the abutting plate of the other pair,.and additional pair lying parclamping elements each engaging both of said extensions.

5.. In a device of the character. described,

the combination with a coat hanger having a front and rear face and having a pair of sockets opening in its front face and extending downwardly at'a rearward inclination, of

tion.

FRANK J. BARNES. 

